Improved opening and closing bucket for paddle-wheels



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE TINGLE, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED OPENING AND CLOSING BUCKET FOR PADDLE-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7,585, dated August 20,1850.

-To all whom it may concer/1,.'

Beit known that I, GEORGE 'I`INGLE, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have inven ted a new and useful Improvement in thePropelling-IVlieels of Steamboats; and I do hereby declare thefollowingl to he a full, clear,

and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexeddrawing, making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in certain improvements in thepropelling-wheels for steam-vessels, the said improvements having fortheir obj et the production of a better action of the floats or bucketsupon the water than the oltl modes, in order that the angular' action ofsaid floats may be measurably overcome and all jar, shocks, and unduecommotion in the water be avoided, as well as that the ability to give agreater depth or immersion to the said tioats may be obtained andthereby secure a\greater hold upon the water.

I am aware that many attempts have been made to attain these results,some by causing the tioats or buckets to move so as to maintain avertical position while entering and leaving the water, these movementsbeing obtained by the aid of eccentrics upon the supporting-shaft; butbesides the consumption of power to operate said wheels, together' withtheir complex construction, they were not practically found to producemuch benefit in the way anticipated. Buckets have been also atiixedpermanentl yin various angular positions to the arms of the wheel, thuspassing through the water in those fixed positions; and I am also awarethat floats have been iliade to open and close in manner similar tomine, except as to the manner of performing those movements-viz., by theaction of the water upon them-whereby the violence with which theclosing movement was produced soon destroyed them. My invention differsfrom these plans in several respects, to be hereinafter described, whileyet it produces the effects claimed for them without the disadvantagesthey labor under. In the first place, my floats are movable, but are notactuated by any force arbitrarily connected with the motive power, as isthe case with all others, but take of themselves certain positionsbefore entering the Water best adapted to produce the greatest effectsin propulsion.

I construct my wheel as follows: The frame is made as usual and affixedto the shaft by anges, as shown. Between the rim and an inner band Iattach the floats forming the buckets. These I propose to make ot`metal. They consist of broad plates stiffen ed on their sides by ribs,said plates being' shown at a and the ribs at a', these ribs beingthickened up at their centers. One edge of each of the plates dterminates in a semicircular groove extending across its whole width, asseen at b b', the object of which is twofold. The iirst is to giveadditional weight to that end in order to cause them to close togetherby gravity, and.secondly, it forms an edge curvedinward to be presentedtoward the water when the wheel isreversed for the purpose of backing,and so cause those two edges to come together, and thus present therequired surface for taking hold of the water. In the center of eachplate and through each of the ribs o. a hole is made, the use of whichis to suspend the several plates, as shown. The arms in the wheel are intwo sets arranged equidistant from eachA other around the flange-plate,and the two sets are keyed to the bearingshaft, so that each arm shallstand directly opposite to the other'. The ends of each arm between t-hetwo brace-rings are turned to lit the holes in the rib a. To each armthen a plate a is affixed, as shown. Just in advance of the centers ofeach plate a stop c is put, which consists of a rod secured to the twobracerings, as represented. By reason of this stop the plates o canrevolve only partially in one direction on the arm of the wheel. Themotion then which the plates have is one Which will permit the twocurved ends h bIto come together, as shown at h', and thus form anangular box, or to open so as to stand nearly parallel, as shown in theopposite side of the wheel. The plate likewise is not suspended on thearms exactly in the center of said plate, but so that the end opposite hb shall present somewhat the greatest surface.

The operation of the wheel is thus: The arl row represents the properdirection of the wheel to propel the vessel forward. As fast as eachpair of plates a arrive at the top of the wheel and pass the center ofthe shaft the ends b begin to close together by reason of their superiorweight being also slightly angled from the stop c, preventing them fromstanding at any time exactly parallel. Thus as they descend toward theWater both edges finally join each other and butt together, as seen atb. In this position they enter the water in the form of an angular box.The surfaces of the plates in front of the arms exposing the mostsurface to the Water insures their keeping this position until they havepartially left the Water, When the plates are permitted to open and takethe parallel position. This is eifected the moment the forward ends oftheplates rise above the surface, as then the pressure is taken off thefront end and the water immediately forces the back ends apart. Thusthey rise out Without carrying any lift-water, and thereby cause nomaterial disturbance in this place. Another advantage is the ability toimmerse the wheel to a greater depth than the ordinary wheel and stillavoid the bad effects produced by what would be the increasedl angularaction iu the old mode.

In order to back water the floats must come together from the oppositeside of the Wheel and from the bucket; but inasmuch as at that side theplates stand open by reason of the heavy edge being on the lower side ofthe axis some other method must be provided to accomplish this than bygravity. This is the object of the semi-cylindrical grooves b b', whichin consequence of their edges curving inward cause the plates to closetogether by the angular action of the water against them, as clearlyshown.

Vhat I claim as of my own invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

l. The formation of each of the blades composing the bucket so thattheir inner or closing ends shall be heavier than the outer ends thereofwhen combined with a stop or stops, substantially as herein described,thus effecting the closing together of the same by the action of gravitybefore entering the'water, as set forth.

2. Curving the inner edges so'as to insure the closing of said edgestogether by the action of the Water While backing, and thus complete asufficient bucket for that purpose, substantially in the mannerdescribed herein.

GEO. TINGLE.

lVitnesses:

S. H. MAYNARD, THOMAS H. Woon.

